This invention relates generally to improvements in electronic thermometer devices, and more particularly to electronic thermometers which will provide accurate and reliable temperature measurements may be obtained without waiting for the temperature sensing unit to reach its stabilization point.
One of the primary measurements made in medicine is the measurement of the body's temperature. This measurement was historically made using a glass bulb mercury thermometer which is still used extensively despite obvious drawbacks. More recently, however, with the advent of sophisticated electronics, electronic thermometers have been developed. These instruments use thermocouples or thermistors as the temperature sensing device and then amplify and otherwise process the signal to provide an analog or digital readout. These devices have generally been rather bulky and cumbersome. Furthermore, they have been rather slow. This is due to the fact that temperature sensing units require a rather long time to stabilize at the final temperature. Attempts have been made to alleviate this problem by using various schemes involving the anticipation of the final stabilized temperature.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic temperature measuring device which will accurately predict a stabilized temperature in a relatively short period of time.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rapid output electronic temperature sensing instrument for use in the medical arts.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a digital temperature display at a time prior to the temperature sensing instrument stabilization time.
It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus producing a digital time display followed by a digital temperature display which is in anticipation of the final stabilized temperature.